Electrical connectors are commonly secured to a housing, such as by securing to a panel of the housing. For example, as illustrated in FIGS. 1-4 and particularly FIG. 3, a housing panel 10 may have an opening through which the connector 12 extends, with the connector having a flange 14 (which can be a nut) abutting one side of the panel opening and a nut 16 secured to an outer thread 18 on the connector 12 and abutting the other side of the panel opening.
During normal operation, the connector 12 would be connected to a mating connector terminal. However, during a typical life of such a connector 12, the connector 12 will be periodically disconnected from the mating terminal, for example during service or when a change of design occurs. In order to protect the terminal portion of the connector 12 when it is disconnected and therefore exposed, a protective dust cap 20 has heretofore been placed over the exposed connector terminal end, with the cap 20 secured thereon by screwing its internal thread 22 onto the connector outer thread 18.
In order to ensure that such a protective cap 20 is available at all times when needed, in some instances the cap 20 has been secured to a lanyard 24 which is also secured to a ring 26 (see FIGS. 2 and 4) which is secured over the connector 12, for example between the nut 16 and the front face of the flange 14. Thus, cap 20 is secured in the location even when not being used (e.g., when the connector 12 is connected to the mating terminal) so that it can readily be secured over the connector terminal end when the connector 12 is disconnected, for example, during service.
Such connectors 12 typically have just enough outer threads 18 to allow the ring 26 to be so mounted. Thus, as illustrated in FIG. 4, when the ring 26 is used, the portion of the outer thread 18 extending beyond the nut 16 of many connectors already in service is just enough to securely retain the cap 20 thereon.
In many such installations, it is also necessary to ensure that the connector 12 will remain securely in place, without the nut 16 loosening. In order to ensure this, safety wires have been used. Such safety wires have been, for example, stainless steel wires which are on one end secured to the nut 16 and on the other end are secured to some structure to prevent rotation of the nut 16. For example, the stainless steel wire is typically threaded through a hole in the nut 26 on its one end, and then looped and twisted around itself to close a loop. The wire other end has been secured to the panel or structure attached to the panel, or even threaded through the panel opening and secured to the flange or nut on the other side of the panel 10.
Installation of such safety wires is difficult and time consuming. For example, after it is installed, a second installer must inspect the installation to ensure, for example, that the wire is properly installed, including the proper number of twists per inch, installed in the proper direction (opposite of thread direction), and has no nicks on the wire which could cause breakage. Further, the ends of the wire are also supposed to be cut and twisted toward the panel, which can be difficult if not impossible in crowded blind areas which are difficult to access. Moreover, such cuts and twists put stress on the wire which can result in breakage. Still further, even when properly installed the wire cuts result in very sharp points on which the installer can cut himself and leave blood in the area, can snag on protective clothing and endanger workers requiring such clothing, cause mechanical problems such as jamming, and/or cause electrical shorting.
As a result of such problems, most military applications will no longer allow such safety wires.
The present improvement is intended to overcome such problems.